


Trust

by idreamofignoct



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, married, post Venice Incident, some sexual references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 13:31:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idreamofignoct/pseuds/idreamofignoct
Summary: Fallout from the Venice Incident has put a strain on Jack and Gabriel's professional and personal relationship. Jack must choose between his heart and his head over their next move.





	Trust

Jack Morrison couldn’t sleep. He wanted to. God, how he wanted to. Recent events, however, kept him from even brief naps. Too many things needed his attention. Namely, the pile of reports occupying the other side of his bed.

Exhaling, Jack pushed the reports aside and bent over, fingers grasping the bottle of whiskey there. As he leaned back, bottle in hand, his gaze drifted to the open report nearest him. Grimaced at the subject headline. Though months had passed since the Venice incident, and Jack stood behind the podium dozens of times basically working damage control, the public had concerns about the organization, and rightly so. To make matters worse, the UN restricted recruitment efforts. Any potentials were now vetted through their people, not Jack. His inquiries into candidate viability were no longer trusted. His judgment was, as stated by the UN director, ‘compromised.’

Jack took a hearty swig. The alcohol burned a path down his throat, emphasized the gall rising within. They were right. He was compromised, torn between the respect he had for Gabriel Reyes as a soldier and the love he had for Gabe as a husband. Jack couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t of two minds about everything. Didn’t help that Gabe continuously defended his conduct when Jack tried to explain why his decision endangered everything they worked to achieve together. Exhausted and irritated by the inquiries, Gabe had snapped at Jack and left. He didn’t tell him where he was going. Jack didn’t ask. Gabe distancing himself from the epicenter was the best recourse. The other members of Blackwatch followed their commander’s lead. Jack kept tabs on them all, even Gabe. A violation of their trust, but Jack had no choice. Gabe brought this on himself, and Jack’s ability to protect him weakened by the day.

He toyed with the ring on his left hand. _Gabe_ , Jack thought, shaking his head. _Why did it turn out like this…?_

Despite the pervading weariness weighing down his heart and mind, Jack felt the moment someone else entered the room. There was a change in the air, an electricity that, under any other circumstances, would have excited him.

Jack glanced over his shoulder. 

Gabe stood on the far side of the bed, looking as weary as Jack felt. He stared at the reports covering what was normally his side, a faint scowl touching his lips.

“That’s all you,” Jack said, turning away. He couldn’t look at his husband right now, not when the air was so heavy with all the things said and unsaid, when the want to either hug him or punch him warred in his heart. “You’ve kept me busy even you’re not here.” Jack couldn’t help the bitterness in his tone. “Nice of you to check in. How was Morocco?”

A tense moment passed. “You were tracking me.”

“Of course I fucking was,” Jack said. His words were sharp, but his tone remained even. “You’re high profile now. I can’t say ‘I don’t know where you are,’ when the brass asks me.”

“You always did before.” Gabe’s voice was tight, flat.

“Well, that’s before you ruined any credibility I had,” Jack retorted. He knocked back another swig, grunted. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. Jack had a few more pulls, the subsequent sloshing of liquid and suction generated from his lips on the mouth of the bottle echoing between them. After a time, Jack believed Gabe just left. But then he heard the clatter of reports being shoved aside, followed by the bed sinking under Gabe’s weight as he sat down.

“I stand by what I did, Jack.” Gabe spoke quietly. “It had to be done.”

“Not like that. Dammit, Reyes,” Jack said, looking back to catch Gabe’s eye, his reaction to being addressed by his- their- surname. “We talked about this. You knew the risk. What was at stake.”

Gabe’s eyes flashed. His lips drew back into a partial snarl. “And so did you,” he shot back. “Or did you forget all those flags? How we almost lost Gèrard?”

“One life cannot dictate—” 

“Yes, it fucking can,” Gabe interrupted. Standing up, he crossed over to Jack’s side of the bed, yanked the bottle out of his hand and grabbed him by the scruff of the collar. Passion blazed in his eyes. 

“I did it for you, goddammit. I couldn’t protect Gèrard. I won’t let that happen to you.”

Any sentiment Jack may have felt was lost in a haze of disbelief and weariness. He broke free from Gabe’s grip, pushed his way past him on the way to the window. He stood there, his arms folded across his chest. Ignored the way his hands trembled due to the riot of emotions churning within him. 

“No,” Jack rasped. “Don’t use me as an excuse.”

“You want one better?” Gabe’s words were edged with anger. “ _They knew we were coming._ The mission was fucked from the start.”

Jack sighed, shook his head. Months may have passed, but here they were, rehashing the same conversation that prompted Gabe to leave in the first place. “There’s no proof,” he said, suddenly feeling like a man twice his age. “Nothing in my investigation points to a mole.” 

A file appeared on the floor by Jack’s feet. “There’s your damn proof,” Gabe growled.

Conscious of Gabe’s eyes on him, Jack picked up the file. He flipped it open and scanned the documents quickly before flinging Gabe a sharp look.

“Is this accurate?” 

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.” Gabe’s reply was as angry as it was pained, no doubt from Jack’s reluctance to believe him. “Pulled a hell of a lot of favors to get this, Jack. I hope you appreciate it.”

Taken aback by the harsh sting of his words, Jack flipped through the photos, noting the breakdown of time, date, meeting places, and suspected associates. When he met Gabe’s eyes again, Jack’s irritation ebbed at seeing how distraught he appeared. This reaction went beyond Jack’s displeasure over the incident. Gabe held each of his teammates accountable for their actions. He seemed genuinely upset by this deceit.

Jack closed the report, set it on the nearby table. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way, Gabe,” he said quietly. “I know this must be hard for you to accept.”

Gabe gave a sharp bark of laughter. He sank onto the bed, planted his fists on his thighs. “It should have been obvious to me. It was staring me in the face. And I didn’t see it until it was too late.”

Jack eased onto the space beside Gabe. Though relatively close, he still felt miles away. “I can make some calls. Get people on this. We’ll put a stop to it.”

Gabe groaned and leaned forward, head in his hands. “You don’t understand, Jack. Stopping it now won’t change a damn thing.” He sucked in a breath, looked toward the window. “Talon had a lot of specialized soldiers. All of them can do what I can. Every. Last. One of them.” His voice deepened with each word. Jack felt a shiver course through him. He’d never heard Gabe’s voice like that before. 

“You know something else?” Gabe continued, his eyes still fixed on the window. “I don’t think those soldiers were human. Just mindless killing machines. Unfeeling. Unthinking.” He paused for a moment. “I looked at them and saw myself.”

Jack heard the anxiety beneath Gabe’s words. “You’ve had these abilities since SEP,” he said gently, wanting to reassure despite not having ever understood how those abilities affected Gabe. “You can’t know that for certain.”

Gabe shook his head. “I know my body. And…” He trailed off, wrung his hands together in a rare show of unease. When he turned his face toward Jack, and he glimpsed a flicker of red in Gabe’s eyes, the faint, smoky tendrils rising from his body, Jack couldn’t help but gasp. Gabe’s next words hit him like a gut punch.

“It’s- I’m- changing, Jack. I can feel it.”

A cold, heavy weight settled in Jack’s chest. Slowly, as if they were meeting for the first time and not having been intimates for years, Jack laid his hand on Gabe’s shoulder. Felt the muscles twitch beneath his shirt.

“Gabe…why didn’t you say something before?” 

“Would it have mattered?” Gabe asked, bitter, angry. “She’s the only one who can help. Which is why we can’t let the evidence go beyond this room.”

Jack’s heart twisted with pain at Gabe’s words. He sighed and let his hand slip from his husband’s shoulder. “I can’t withhold this information. Gabe,” Jack said at seeing the familiar stubbornness settle over Gabe’s features. “It’ll clear everyone’s name, especially yours.”

“You have to keep it to yourself,” he insisted, seemingly unconcerned if he and the rest of his team went down in infamy. 

Jack gave an impatient sigh. “Why tell me this? If you didn’t want me to do something?”

Gabe looked into his eyes then. Jack drew in a small breath. The red color flashed again, but the depth of emotion in his gaze held Jack in thrall. He saw not the man whose conduct he continuously answered for over the past few months. But the man he’d fought beside and bled with, had promised his heart, body, and soul to. A man who was very, very scared.

Gabe took Jack’s hand. Their skin warmed, heat captured in their palms and transferring up Jack’s arm, making his pulse race. Gabe’s other hand cupped Jack’s face. Their knees brushed together as Jack turned toward him. He didn’t recall Gabe closing the distance between them. 

“Because you’re the only one I trust. Because I still want to make something of us when we’re done here. And I can’t do it if I become like those Talon soldiers. Please, Jack.” Gabe traced the line of Jack’s jaw, his touch feather light, teasing. “I need your help.”

The part of Jack not mesmerized by Gabe’s presence despaired over his husband’s request. Expose O’Deorain as a Talon informant, Overwatch might yet hold onto what’s left of its reputation. Keep her double agent status secret, she could continue working toward a means of stabilizing Gabe’s condition, thus ensuring their personal happiness. And, as Jack felt himself respond to Gabe’s gentle touches, the decision was made for him.

For despite everything, Jack trusted Gabe, too.

“All right,” he said, breath hitching as Gabe nuzzled and kissed his cheek. “But I want her under constant surveillance.”

Gabe turned his lips to Jack’s ear, breath warming his skin. “She won’t know we’re onto her,” he replied in husky tones, and damn it if the sound didn’t set Jack’s body alight. 

Jack heard himself murmur a response, but then Gabe pulled him into his arms, lips finding his in a passionate kiss. A hand found its way into his pants, fingers circling a cock already stiff from want. Jack moaned softly against Gabe’s mouth, leaned back onto the bed. Their coming together was an electric clash comprised of need and lust, leaving both panting for breath by the time they were spent.

Gabe fell asleep first, clinging to Jack as he always did, his body warm and welcome after months of sleeping alone. Jack lay awake for the rest of the night, watching the world outside his window gradually brighten, his arms tight around his husband. 

Jack had been wrong. One life can, and did, dictate everything. 

And it was a life worth everything.


End file.
